


Things That Can't be Found (Aren't Forgotten)

by happyaspie



Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [58]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Lost things, Mentions of Ben Parker working for the NYPD, Mentions of Saint Micheal, Mostly Fluff, Peter Parker Cries, Peter Parker Feels, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Precious Peter Parker, Sad Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Wants to Fix Everything, Tony Stark is a Good Mentor, Tony stark is trying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:35:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26829721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaspie/pseuds/happyaspie
Summary: What if there's something that Tony just can't fix...Or...While distractedly washing his hands at Stark Tower, the ring that May had entrusted him with slips off of Peter's finger and he doesn't realize it until it too late. The water had already pushed it through the trap. Tony tries to help. Together they practically tear the pipes apart but there was nothing. Ben's ring was gone.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [58]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1397362
Comments: 15
Kudos: 174





	Things That Can't be Found (Aren't Forgotten)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, look at that! I finally managed to clock a fic in at exactly 3,000 words! 
> 
> **ILY3K 😘**

It was Saturday morning and as Peter woke up in the bedroom that Tony had set aside just for him he stretched his legs out and smiled. The bed was soft and he was comfortable just laying there listening to Tony clamoring about in the kitchen. He knew without a doubt that the man was in there preparing to make some sort of breakfast for them to share. Probably pancakes, maybe some bacon, he wasn't sure but his stomach started grumbling at the thought alone.

As he kicked the covers back his smile grew. He was positive that it was going to be a really good day. Tony had promised him that since they'd finished updating the spider-suit the night before, that they could spend the entire day messing around with the Iron Man schematics. He already had at least ten different ideas in his head as he entered the bathroom to get ready for the morning.

He was so deep in thought that by the time he'd flushed the toilet and had started washing his hands, it was as if he were on auto-pilot. He blindly placed his hands under the water to rinse off the soap, mechanically reached for his toothbrush, and then looked down as he started squeezing some toothpaste out of the tube. 

It was then that he realized that the ring he kept on his right hand was missing and he could feel his stomach lurch. He knew it had been there when he'd entered the bathroom. Making sure it was still on his finger, was the first thing he did every morning when he woke up. That meant that it had more than likely slipped off in the sink.

He dropped the toothbrush without care and turned the water off with such force that he crushed the ceramic knobs. "Oh, God," he frantically repeated to himself as he threw open the cabinets and began to haphazardly toss everything that was underneath out of his way. As towels were being strewn about the small room, and various bottles of shampoo and boxes of spare soap were clattering across the tiled floor, it never occurred to him how loud he was being until a knock came at the door.

"Are you okay in there, Pete?" Tony worriedly inquired. He'd heard the ruckus all the way in the kitchen and seeing as FRIDAY didn't exactly have access to the tower's bathrooms, she'd been unable to tell him what was happening. That had left him worrying that the kid was in there getting sick.

"I'm- Just a minute," Peter said before grabbing ahold of the u-shaped pipe meant to trap foreign objects and used his super-strength to snap it off. He cursed to himself as cold water that poured out of it and saturated his sleep pants, more so when nothing but a large clump of hair, a couple of cotton swabs, and a toothpaste lid, fell to the floor as he emptied it. There was no ring.

The added noise and frantic commentary only served to exacerbate Tony's already growing apprehension and while he was no longer worried that the boy was sick, he had no idea what to make of all the racket. "Pete, I'm giving you to the count of five and then I'm coming in. If you have anything you need to cover up then I suggest you do it now," he warned, then silently counted his way to five before turning the knob.

Once Tony had the door open wide enough to see inside he brought his brows together in concern. Peter was on his knees in a puddle of murky water, surrounded by an abundance of scattered supplies, and holding a broken pipe in his hand. Upon further inspection, he could see that the faucet was crumbling and the sink was cracked as well. "What happened in here, kid?" he asked in utter confusion.

"It's gone, Mr. Stark," Peter rasped through his panting breaths. "I wasn't paying attention and it's gone."

Still not understanding what had taken place, Tony shook his head and squatted down in front of his distraught mentee. "What's gone, Buddy?"

  
"My ring. Ben's ring. I think it fell off when I was washing my hands and-" he said, pausing when a sob tried to escape and only continued once he'd painfully swallowed it down. "-and it wasn't in the trap."

Tony nodded his head in mild understanding. He'd noticed the appearance of the ring several weeks back. It seemed to have shown up out of nowhere but it had quickly become clear that the kid never took it off. He'd never asked about it, though. He'd just assumed that the band was some sort of teenaged fashion statement. The possibility that it could be more than that had never crossed his mind. Though, now that it was missing, he could see exactly how important it was. 

The kid had been willing to tear up the bathroom to get it back and hadn't tried to apologize for it, which, honestly, was a very big deal. The kid apologized for nearly everything whether it was necessary or not. "Alright, Kiddo, let's see what we can do," Tony said as he started mopping up some of the water so that neither of them slipped on it. "You start getting through that drywall and I'll have FRIDAY bring up a map of the plumbing system. She'll be able to pinpoint anywhere where it could have gotten caught."

Still feeling slightly shocked by the loss, Peter nodded his head and watched the man exit the room before ripping into the drywall as asked. When he saw there was another bend in the pipping he tore that section off too but there was nothing in it save for another a dribble of wastewater.

Several minutes later, Tony returned with a holographic image projecting from his watch and a large wrench in his hand. He could see Peter's holding another piece of busted pipping in his hands and sighed. "Hey, kiddo, I got some tools so that we can take things apart a little more easily," he said even though he realized that breaking the hard plastic tubing by hand was like snapping sticks to Peter. He was really more interested in being able to put it back together when they were done.

For the next four hours, they bounced between several floors of the tower, tearing out drywall and taking apart the pipes at every single angle that FRIDAY Suggested only to come up empty-handed. "I'm so sorry, Buddy. I really am." Tony sighed after he'd reconnected the last section of pipes that the ring could have ended up. At that point, he'd been working alone for a while. It was as of the boy couldn't handle the disappointment that came with each empty avenue and it hurt to have to tell him that they'd run out of options. He was a genius, an engineer- he was supposed to be able to fix anything.

Peter nodded his head and leaned it heavily against the wall just outside of the lobby bathroom that Tony had just finished destroying and subsequently repairing on his behalf. He could feel tears filling his eyes as his very last lingering speck of hope was ripped away from him. Ben's ring was gone. He'd never see it again, he'd never run his fingers over the engraved words again and he'd never forgiven himself for his carelessness. 

With a deep pang of defeat settling in his chest, Tony sat down and wrapped an arm around the crestfallen teenager's shoulders. Force of habit had him opening his mouth to say something but he ended up closing it before he'd uttered a single word. He simply didn't know what to say.

For a while, Peter continued to sit there stewing in his misery. May had trusted him with that ring and he'd allowed himself to get so caught up in his own head that he'd not even noticed when it had come off. Then, suddenly the sadness that had been overcoming him morphed into fear as he realized that he was going to have to tell May what he'd done. "May's going to hate me," he whispered just loudly enough for Tony to hear him. "She gave that ring to Uncle Ben when he graduated from the police academy," he added with a shaky breath. "-and then after she found out I was Spider-man, she decided that I should have it. _That Ben would want me to have it_ and now she's going to be so, so mad."

"She won't hate you, Pete," Tony assured, pulling the boy in a bit closer as he did so. "She might be sad or upset but she won't hate you. She could never hate you."

Peter grunted in frustration as his emotions took another turn and he found himself so angry with himself that he wanted to pull his own hair out. "But this is my own fault!" he shouted loudly enough to cause Tony to flinch. "I should have been paying more attention. I knew that it was a little loose this morning and I should have switched fingers but I didn't. I was too busy thinking about other things. I was being stupid and I ruined everything!" he continued, taking a sharp intake of air when he was finished. Then he looked down at his ringless hand, pressed his eyes closed, and squeezed his fists so tightly that he could feel his nails digging into his palms.

"Oh, kid..." Tony quietly uttered as he pried Peter's hands open and took them into his own. "I know it sucks but this was just a really unfortunate accident. It could have happened to anyone. Really," he said with care. 

Peter instantly leaned into Tony's side, allowing the man to take on all of his weight. "I just want it back, Mr. Stark" he croaked just before he completely dissolved into tears.

Leaning his head down to meet the top of Peter's Tony blinked away a few sympathetic tears of his won. "I know, Buddy. I know...", he murmured, already trying to figure out if there was anything left for him to do because he desperately wanted to be able to do something. 

For the remainder of his time at the tower, Peter was quiet. He worked in the lab, picked at his lunch, and left just a little bit earlier than he normally would. Tony assumed that he wanted to get the part where he had to tell her what had happened over with and didn't complain. He just hugged him good-bye and apologized one more time before the kid took off from the penthouse balcony.

Then, the moment Peter had safely shot a web towards his destination, Tony went back inside and sat down on the couch. "Can you get me some details on that ring, FRIDAY? Some pictures. From all angles if possible. I want to see if I can replace it," he said, and even though he couldn't really decide if replacing it was the right thing to do, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to look into it.

The AI dutifully pulled up some images, zooming in on the boy's right hand. The band seemed to jump between the boy's middle and index finger but there was enough there that he could see it from all sides. He'd already known that it as black with a thin blue line going down the middle but with FRIDAY's assistance, he could now see that there were words engraved along the dark edges. It took some finagling to put it all togther but it appeared to say, 'Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle,' on one side and 'Be our protection against the wickedness,' on the other.

"What is this?" Tony murmured to himself as he read and re-read the unfamiliar words. 

"According to my research, Saint Micheal is the Patron Saint of law enforcement," FRIDAY chimed in, despite the rhetorical aspect of the question. "The words appear to have been extracted from The Prayer to Saint Micheal," she further explained, and suddenly it all made sense. 

"Of course it is," Tony sighed. He didn't know the history behind the ring but he did know that Ben had been an officer for the NYPD. And without ever having met him, he could surmise that Ben was one of the _good ones_. The man had raised Peter, after all, and he'd never met anyone with a more solid moral compass than Peter. 

_'When you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you,'_ Tony thought with another deep sigh and then went in search of someone who could create a ring identical to the one that had been lost.

__________

Even though the ring had been delivered to him within two weeks' time, it took Tony nearly a month to build up the courage to show it to Peter. He waited until they were in the penthouse finishing dinner to breech the subject before slowly pulling the new band out of his pocket and holding it in his palm for the kid to see. "I, uh, I know it's not the same but I had someone make me a nearly-exact copy of your- well, your uncle's ring. I'm pretty sure I got the inscription right but the font's a little bit different," he said, giving the kid a curious look as he spoke. 

"I also wasn't sure what the original one was made of but this one is titanium. I wanted to make sure it was strong enough to keep up with you," he added with a small, unsure smile. "You don't have to take it if you don't want to, of course. I just wanted you to have the option."

Peter bit his lip and accepted the ring purely out of politeness. He didn't want the new ring. Just looking at it made his stomach turn with remorse. As such, rather than sliding it onto his finger, he nestled it in his pocket with a quiet 'thanks.'

Meanwhile, Tony tried not to be too disappointed by the reaction. He'd known from the get-go that the ring may or may not be received well. But he'd be lying if he said he'd not hoped that the boy would be pleased by the gesture. 

When Peter got home later that evening he pulled the ring out, placed it in a small tin, and slid it under his bed with the intention of keeping out of sight, out of mind. Except it didn't work out that way. He thought about it often and even went so far as to periodically take it out, turn in over in his hands and run a finger past the engraved letters. Then a sick feeling would swell in his stomach as the memory of his mishap resurfaced and he would upsettingly toss it back into the tin and shove it back under his bed.

However, as the next two months passed, the pain that plagued him each time he saw the band began to fade. It didn't go away but it started to become bearable. Enough so that one day, he found himself placing the ring onto his finger and was surprised when the familiar weight felt good. 

  
For a while, Peter sat there staring at his hand and thinking about how much he still missed Ben. Then, in the same breath, he was filled with appreciation and abruptly realized that perhaps that the ring he was currently wearing, held dual-meaning. While it clearly wasn't the same one that his uncle had worn for so many years, it was still representative of him. In addition, it also seemed to represent how much Tony cared about him. The man had seen how much the original ring had meant to him and had gone out of his way to try and find another. Not as a replacement but as something that could serve as a reminder of the one he'd lost. And with that in mind, he decided that maybe he no longer needed to keep it hidden away.

  
The very next Friday, Peter came into the lab wearing the black and blue etched band. Tony, being ever observant, noticed immediately and smiled softly. Though, he didn't comment on it. He'd thought that one day seeing it on the boy's hand would feel like a victory but didn't. He still felt absolutely terrible that he'd been unable to find the one that had disappeared into the depths of the tower's advanced plumbing system. However, he was glad to see that the kid had decided that the replica was worthy of wear. 

Later that night as they sat on the couch eating dinner, Peter began to twist the ring on his finger. Then he took a deep breath and looked towards his mentor, "Hey Mr. Stark? He asked and then waited for Tony to indicate that he was listening. "I just wanted to say thank you for this," he said while gesturing vaguely towards his hand. "-and I know you tried really hard to find the other one and I want you to know that I really appreciate that too. I guess what I'm trying to say is, that- well, thank you. For everything. For caring I guess," he lamely finished, turning away so that the man couldn't see the blush that had crept up on his cheeks.

Tony quietly chuckled as he urged the boy to look at him. "Pete, you don't have to _thank me_ for caring about you. Caring about you makes me happy. It's purely selfish really," he said with a smirk. 

With a huffed laugh, Peter melted into the man's side and smiled "Sure, Mr.Stark. I love you too," he said and was unsurprised with the Tony ruffed his hair and then pulled him into a hug.

**Author's Note:**

> Come hang out with me on [tumblr!](https://yes-i-am-happyaspie.tumblr.com%22) While you're there, check out the tag [#happieaspie art](https://yes-i-am-happyaspie.tumblr.com/search/happyaspie%20art)


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